


Baiting the Trap

by Goddess47



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Established Relationship, M/M, Romancing McShep 2021
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-15 07:01:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29804700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goddess47/pseuds/Goddess47
Summary: "Remember when we thought Lorne and his team were dead, and there were wanted posters for us?" Rodney asked, dropping down in John's guest chair.John looked up, a little startled."Yeah... I remember. Why do you ask?""Well, I'm thinking that maybe we get a little of our own back for that."
Relationships: Rodney McKay/John Sheppard
Comments: 5
Kudos: 67
Collections: Romancing McShep 2021





	Baiting the Trap

**Author's Note:**

  * For [melagan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/melagan/gifts), [respoftw](https://archiveofourown.org/users/respoftw/gifts).



> Many thanks to **Melagan** for organizing the Romancing McShep Reverse Bang! And to **Respoftw** for her lovely art and her patience with my late story! It was fun to write a brave-little-toaster!Rodney story!
> 
> Respoftw's art can be found [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29803434): Go and tell her how lovely it is!
> 
> Also for my Trope Bingo: Wanted Poster and McSheplets #169: Revenge

"Dammit Rodney!" John grumbled to himself as he stood on the ramp of the cloaked Jumper. Ronon and SGA-3 was with him, everyone armed and ready. "How did I let you talk me into this?"

Sergeant Matias, knowing when to ignore his CO, held an LSD in one hand. "Sir. Three bogies, straight ahead." He looked up. "In the trees."

"Any others life signs?" 

Matias turned in a circle. "A group of forty-ish, about two clicks away in that direction." He pointed over his shoulder, toward the front of the Jumper. "That's the village we saw from the air on our re-con." He fiddled with the device. "Dr. McKay is about two clicks beyond the three bogies. Another dozen bogies in his area."

This section of the planet was densely forested and they had two basic choices: set down a distance away from where Rodney was being held, or immediately outside a fortified area that had no cover. John had opted for distance, hoping the decision wouldn't come back and bite him in the ass.

"Okay," John nodded. "We'll hope they're at least neutral and leave the village alone for the moment. Let's go get Dr. McKay. Doc, you and Czarnecki stay here and guard the Jumper. Be ready for the extraction or if we need you."

Since Carson hadn't wanted to become field certified, John has insisted on taking a doctor that was. One of the newest doctors assigned to Atlantis, Captain Harry Cho -- an Army doctor -- had the field certifications, which made John more comfortable taking him into what he knew would be a combat mission.

They had come through the Gate from Sateda, cloaked, letting the Gate close on its own after thirty-eight minutes. That gave them time to do the aerial recon as well as lull any watchers into -- hopefully -- thinking the dial-in was a bust.

Stepping out of the cloak startled the two watching the field and they started shooting. Matias' team took them out quickly. 

"See if they have a communicator," Matias ordered. 

Phillips and Winston rifled through the pack the two dead men had and Winston came up with a Genii handset. "Got it!"

"Okay, let's just hope we don't have to answer any call-ins," Matias said. "Anything else?"

"Sarge, I found this," Kloch called, holding up a wanted poster. The wanted poster the Lanteans had put out offering a reward for information on Kolya.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Remember when we thought Lorne and his team were dead, and there were wanted posters for us?" Rodney asked, dropping down in John's guest chair.

John looked up, a little startled.

"Yeah... I remember. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I'm thinking that maybe we get a little of our own back for that."

"Revenge? Rodney! Didn't know you had it in you?"

Rodney wriggled a bit in his seat. "Well, not exactly revenge... oh, fuck it, yes, it's revenge. We're always reacting when Kolya does something to us and I thought maybe it was about time we put some pressure on him."

John sat back in his chair. "It's a good thought. What did you have in mind?"

"Well, I thought we might put out some wanted posters of our own. If we put out a reward for Kolya, I gotta think someone's going to be willing to turn on him. He'll have a handful of fanatics who will remain loyal, but he's got to have more than a few people under him who would be willing to turn him in."

"What kind of reward might work?" John asked.

"What are the basics? Money, for one. Safety, for another."

"No weapons."

"Oh? Oh. Okay. That makes sense," Rodney nodded. "Money or trade goods. Teyla can help us with that. Something that would be portable enough that they can travel with it."

"Safety?"

"We take them somewhere that has relative safety from the Wraith. Maybe with the kids, but we'd have to check someone out carefully if we did that. But there are other planets that have safety protocols that would take in one or two people, or a small family. Geldar, maybe?"

"Ronon might have some ideas for that," John nodded.

"We already have digital footage we can get a good picture from. We can print up some wanted posters and have teams pass them out when they're on missions," Rodney went on.

"Huh. You've been thinking about this for a while, haven't you?" John asked softly.

Rodney nodded. "Yeah. Ever since... well, since the storm, I've been thinking about Kolya and how he almost killed us all. The thing with Lorne jump started the idea."

"You have paper? I know you got a printer for the labs in the last Daedalus run."

"That's what I've been waiting for, actually," Rodney admitted. "I got cases of paper with that printer. We should be able to give teams a handful of wanted posters."

John got up and came closer to Rodney. "You know, if I weren't already sleeping with you, this would have done it. I love how you work so hard to protect us all." He leaned in for a soft kiss.

Rodney kissed him back.

"Let's go sell Woolsey on this. Then we can see about finalizing those details," John said.

~*~*~*~*~

Of course, it wasn't that easy. They had several supposed leads but most of them were opportunistic, looking to get money or get away from something.

One turned out to be less dubious, so John sent Ronon and Teyla to see what they could find out.

"I think that Ferle has information on Kolya but it is... not as solid as we might like," Teyla said in their debriefing. "It seems that Ferle was... dismissed from Kolya's service some time ago."

"He washed out and got away before he was killed," Ronon offered a less kind interpretation of events.

"That may be true," Teyla said, frowning at Ronon. "But Ferle was with Kolya's troops long enough to have information on several worlds that Kolya has used as bases, most of which we did not know about."

"Does he know where Kolya actually is?" John asked.

"No." Ronon was firm. "But we've caused enough problems for Kolya with the wanted posters that he cannot travel just anywhere anymore."

"That is true," Teyla agreed. "Ferle is guessing but he thinks Kolya moves between half a dozen locations on a regular basis. He'll stay one or two nights in one place, then several days in the next. Kolya doesn't keep to a schedule and it's doubtful that he shares his plans with anyone."

"Who does he travel with?" John asked.

"That varies," Ronon answered. "There's one or two lieutenants but the rest change regularly. He keeps a small, tight inner circle, which makes it easier for him to maintain his personal security."

"How do we get to him?" John asked.

"Umm... I have an idea I know you're not going to like," Rodney put in.

John looked at him. "I already don't like it, but go ahead."

"Use me as bait," Rodney said. He said it calmly but raised his chin in defiance.

"Rodney!"

"It would work," Ronon nodded. "Kolya's got to be running low on supplies and technology. He'd take McKay in a heartbeat."

"How do we know he wouldn't just kill him to spite us?" John demanded.

"I wouldn't be any good to him dead," Rodney replied. "He needs me to help him build... stuff."

"And when you're done building _stuff_ for him?" John asked.

"Well, you'll just have to rescue me well before that," Rodney replied.

"And how will we find you?"

"Oh! That's easy! Radek and I have built a transceiver, kind of like the Wraith used on Ronon. Implant a couple of those in me and you can find me from anywhere," Rodney said. "You already have several likely locations from this informant. That narrows it down even more."

"And what if the Wraith find that transmission?" John asked.

"Totally different frequency," Rodney nodded. "Not something they use."

"I don't like it," John sighed. 

"You don't have to," Rodney said. "I'm volunteering."

"Rodney!"

"John!"

"With that, Ronon and I will take our leave and let you work this out between you," Teyla said. When Ronon didn't seem to want to move, she took his arm and dragged him from the room. 

"What? I wanted to watch--" Ronon's voice was cut off by the closing door.

John gave a startled laugh. 

"I think he's hoping to watch the make-up sex," Rodney shrugged. 

"I'm not quite to that part," John said. "Rodney. What you're suggesting is very dangerous. If Kolya even suspects a trap, he'll kill you without a thought."

"I know," Rodney admitted softly. "It's not something I _want_ to do. But I know perfectly well that if it's you, you he will kill without a second thought."

John nodded. He couldn't argue with that.

"And there's no one else that Kolya would take the bait for," Rodney continued. "Believe me, I'd pass this on to anyone else. But there's no one else who would entice Kolya out of hiding and not immediately be killed."

John sighed. "I hate when you're right."

Rodney moved closer. He put his hands on John's hips. "We up to the make-up sex part yet?"

John gave a rueful grin but didn't move away. "I could be persuaded."

Rodney gave a small laugh.

~*~*~*~*~

John insisted on as air-tight a plan as possible. Intellectually, he knew there was no such thing, but he had to try. While he was resigned to Rodney being taken, he wanted to make sure no one else was seriously hurt at the same time. That took a delicate balance, since they didn't want to make it too easy for Kolya but they didn't want it to scream 'trap.'

The good news was that they were able to implant three trackers in Rodney. Two were active at all times and the third was something Rodney could activate after he had been taken. That third tracker would confirm that Rodney had been kidnapped and that there was a high probability that Kolya was in the same location. There were also trackers in Rodney's clothes, which they assumed would be left behind at some point in the kidnapping process.

John asked about defensive options, which led to an interesting conversation between Radek and Rodney. It wasn't perfect, but it made John happier to know Rodney had at least a modicum of protection.

Telya came up with the idea they finally went with.

"There are many worlds that would benefit from Rodney's assistance," she said. "You have been reluctant to do that, which is understandable. But if you answer some of those requests, it will quickly become known that Rodney is available for work off of Atlantis. Especially in the beginning, there will only be watchers who report back to Kolya. It will take time."

"The best part is that he will be helping people who need assistance," Ronon nodded. "Teyla and I can go with the team, as security and as the person who 'manages' Rodney's time."

John frowned. 

"John. You know you cannot go," Teyla said firmly.

"I know, I know," he admitted roughly. 

"We'll take good care of him," Ronon promised.

"Hey! Right here!" Rodney protested.

Ronon grinned. "You don't have to do anything but stand around and look pretty."

John rolled his eyes. Ronon spent entirely too much time with the Marines. 

"Ronon!" Teyla protested.

"It will do us good to have some good-will out there," Ronon said. 

"At least find us someone who has tormack to trade," Rodney added. "That would be a bonus!"

Ronon nodded. "Good idea!"

John had to step back and let Ronon and Lorne work out the final details of the security for Rodney's missions-of-mercy. He knew he'd drive himself crazy planning out the what-ifs and he wasn't going to do that to himself. Didn't stop him from worrying but he tried to keep the crazy level down to a minimum.

It took longer than they thought for Kolya to take the bait. It was almost a Lantean year before they got a nibble they could trace back to Kolya. Rodney spent more time off Atlantis than almost anyone else but he had also built that good-will they had hoped for.

Teyla and Woolsey kept track of the places Rodney helped and built new trade agreements. They did get a steady source of tormack, to everyone's delight. 

What they didn't expect was the people.

"What do we do with all the people who want to join us?" John asked in a staff meeting. "It's a security nightmare."

"Sateda!" Rodney snapped his fingers.

Everyone frowned. "What?" John asked. 

More snapping. "We send them to Sateda to do whatever is needed. It's been long enough that I would suspect there are lots of places that can be salvaged or cleaned out. They aren't here on Atlantis but they're supporting us. We can set up training for... for everything! And it gives us time to decide who is less of a security risk before they come here."

They looked at Ronon.

"Huh. There should be a variety of things -- clean up, reclamation, training, farming -- so we could find work for almost anyone," Ronon said. He shrugged. "And there's lots of space."

"Ronon and I will put together some ideas and what would be needed," Teyla offered. "But I would think that re-claiming the planet from the damage the Wraith created would be a worthy effort."

"We could put some shields in strategic places," Rodney put in. "Word will get back to the Wraith quickly enough, so we need to be ready for that."

"Do we have enough equipment to be able to protect the areas we would be working in?" Woolsey asked.

"That can be some of the next work Radek and I do," Rodney said. "About time I spend some time here instead of away from Atlantis."

John could appreciate having Rodney on Atlantis more. Not being able to go out on missions with him had sucked.

They first had to put up a new Gate, which was relatively simple, taking an 'extra' Gate they had identified in the Gate Bridge project. It took six months to make Sateda ready for inhabitants. There had been marauders who had taken over sections of the city that needed to be... talked to. Ronon handled most of that, glad to be able to reclaim his home from invaders.

Best of all, they found an unexpected number of Satedans hiding in the mountains. Some had been living in rural areas when the Wraith attack started, a handful were refugees from various cities. All were grateful for supplies and assistance from the rehabilitation effort.

It was a grey day on Sateda when Kolya finally struck. He didn't come himself, of course, but Rodney had been taken. No one was seriously hurt but Matias' team had been knocked out by a gas.

As expected, Rodney's clothes were dumped on an empty world. It took two long days before Rodney activated his hidden tracker. 

"Where is that?" John asked, looking at the screen.

"P47-233," Radek said, peering at the blinking light. He tapped on the console. "Not much information in database. But there is a Gate."

"Okay," John said. He went off to find Matias' team, now that they had had time to recover. "McKay's activated his tracker and it's been in the same place for twelve hours."

"Doc's cleared us," Matias nodded. "We're ready when you're ready."

~*~*~*~*~

There wasn't much of a trail to follow from the Gate. John let Matias and Ronon lead the way. They moved carefully, on the look-out for booby-traps. Ronon had them move off the trail at one point, pointing out a trip wire.

They finally reached the compound and hunkered down behind a thicket of bushes. 

Matias had the LSD. "Looks like Dr. McKay's in a building on the far side from here."

"Okay, let's see if we can move in that direction," John decided. "Ronon, take point and watch for traps or anything that might tell them we're here."

They had to move away from the encampment a few times to maintain any cover and have decent footing in the undergrowth.

John touched his communicator. "Czarnecki. We're at the compound. Be ready to take off on my signal."

"Yes, sir!" 

They made it to the far side of the camp. There was a good size pond on this side of the encampment, which made for a natural barrier. 

"That building." Matias pointed. It backed up against the pond. "On what is the left end from here, and I think against the pond, but I can't tell for sure. There is one other life sign in the building." 

"Not sure I want to go into that water," Ronon commented. "We're better off moving back to where the pond starts."

"Works for me," John said. "Let's move back there." 

John looked at the fortifications. "Okay, we have to blow the fencing, which will let them know we're here. But Rodney will also know we are here. Ready?"

Phillips had a rocket launcher and used it to create an opening in the fencing for them. They sprinted across the open space and moved toward the building that held Rodney. 

John heard gunfire off to one side. He ignored it and focused on the building in front of him. Ronon was ahead of him while Matias and his team picked off Kolya's soldiers in the compound.

Ronon kicked in the door and John followed him into the building.

"That's as far as you come," Kolya called from behind Rodney. He had an arm around Rodney's neck and a gun to Rodney's head. Rodney had some leads attached to various parts of his body. 

"Hey, buddy! You okay?" John asked.

Rodney rolled his eyes. He was bloody but upright, which John considered a good sign. "Oh, sure. Peachy-keen." 

_Peachy_ was the code for explosives. Damn.

John stepped away from Ronon. It wasn't a big space but he hoped to split Kolya's attention. 

"Oh, no, Colonel Sheppard," Kolya drawled. "Stay right where you are or I'll kill Dr. McKay."

John stopped but didn't drop his gun. "I'm going to kill you, even if I have to take us all out."

"That would be unfortunate," Kolya replied. 

"Not a fan of that myself," Rodney muttered.

John grinned. 

"Drop your weapons!" Kolya ordered. 

"I don't think so," John drawled. "There's only one of you and three of us."

"I'll kill him!" Kolya threatened. 

John was waiting for Kolya to stamp his foot.

"Hey, Rodney. Will that thing work on peaches?" John asked.

"Maybe?" Rodney shrugged. 

"Okay, then... one... two... now!" John called.

Rodney deliberately pressed his head against his shoulder to set off the Ancient mini-shield that he and Radek had found and had embedded in Rodney's shoulder. The field didn't have enough power to last more than fifteen seconds but it was long enough to let John shoot Kolya between the eyes without risking Rodney. 

Kolya fell, pulling two of the clips off Rodney.

"Okay, that's going to blow," Rodney said. 

John went over and grabbed Rodney's hand. "How big?"

"Mostly just the building," Rodney said. "I think. I didn't see all of it."

Ronon was ahead of them as John hauled Rodney out of the building. 

"Sheppard, over here!" Ronon called from next to another building.

"Something's going to blow," John called over the communicator to the rest of the team. "Take cover!"

John and Rodney were barely behind the second building when the building they had been in went up in a large blast.

"Czarnecki! We're mostly contained and we have a LZ in the back section of the compound for you. Come and get us!" John called.

"ETA two minutes," Czarnecki replied. 

"Matias, update," John commanded.

"There are four bogies in the building near the entrance to the compound. But we have them contained there, so we should be good to go," Matias reported.

"Keep them there, then. We got Kolya, which was the objective," John replied. Taking out fanatics was all well and good but at this point he was satisfied with getting Kolya and getting Rodney back.

"Roger," Matias replied. 

The Jumper de-cloaked above them.

"Point the hatch toward the pond," John ordered. "This section seems to be clear and there are some bogies still in the front. We'll leave them here."

"Yes, sir!" The Jumper landed silently.

"Let's get out of here!" John commanded. 

John let Ronon guide Rodney on to the Jumper and Dr. Cho sat Rodney down in one of the seats. 

"You hurt anywhere?" Cho asked.

"Mostly bumps and bruises. It looks worse than it is," Rodney admitted. "They wanted me to be able to work, so they didn't do more than rough me up. I can use a meal and some water."

"Water is easy," Cho said, reaching into his bag for a canteen. "Small sips."

Czarnecki lifted off as Rodney started drinking. 

John dug into a pocket and handed over a power bar. "Chocolate chip!" he said.

Rodney grinned as he took it. "Thanks."

The trip back to Atlantis was almost anti-climatic. Since Rodney wasn't seriously hurt, they followed their own security protocols and went to the Alpha site for a check-in. They left the Jumper there and walked through the Gate to Atlantis.

The rest of the team was checked over by medical and let go. Beckett and Cho decided Rodney needed at least an overnight stay, mostly to make sure there wasn't any hidden trauma. It also gave them a chance to take most of the trackers out of Rodney. 

Leaving one of the trackers had been Rodney's idea. 

"Listen, I know perfectly well it's dangerous out there," Rodney waved a hand. "Anyone that goes off world regularly should have a tracker. Just in case."

"Can we build more of the passive type?" John asked. "They get activated only when you need to be rescued?"

"That's a good idea," Ronon had put in. "That way we're not broadcasting all the time but it's a way to get help if needed."

Since Rodney had already activated the 'just in case' tracker, the docs needed to implant a new one. That made Rodney vow to work on something with an on and off switch.

Rodney was released from the infirmary with strict guidelines to 'go home and rest.' 

Luckily, John knew how to help with that.

John tucked Rodney into their bed and crawled in beside him. "Good thing that shield thing worked," John said softly. 

"Believe me, I'm as glad as you are," Rodney nodded. He wrapped an arm around John.

"Well, we cleaned up one mess," John said. "Still lots more to do."

"Hey, we're entitled to some time off," Rodney protested. 

"Oh, don't worry!" John leaned in for a kiss. "I have plans for you, too!"


End file.
